The nation's health department is taking steps to dismantle LGBT health initiatives, as political appointees have halted or rolled back regulations intended to protect LGBT workers and patients, removed LGBT-friendly language from documents and reassigned the senior adviser dedicated to LGBT health.

The sharp reversal from Obama-era policies carries implications for a population that's been historically vulnerable to discrimination in health care settings, say LGBT health advocates. A Health Affairs study last year found that many LGBT individuals have less access to care than heterosexuals; in a Harvard-Robert Wood Johnson-NPR survey one in six LGBT individuals reported experiencing discrimination from doctors or at a clinic

The Trump administration soon after taking office also moved to change the agency's LGBT-related health data collection, a window into health status and discrimination. Last month it established a new religious liberty division to defend health workers who have religious objections to treating LGBT patients.

The changes at the Department of Health and Human Services represent "rapid destruction of so much of the progress on LGBT health," said Kellan Baker, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who worked with HHS on LGBT issues for nearly a decade. “It’s only a matter of time before all the gains made under the Obama administration are reversed under the Trump administration, for purposes that have nothing to do with public health and have everything to do with politics.”

The policy reversals also come after President Donald Trump repeatedly pledged during his campaign that he would support LGBT causes. "Thank you to the LGBT community!" Trump tweeted in June 2016. "I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs."

The Trump administration defended its approach to LGBT health as part of its broader health care strategy.

"The policies of the Trump administration are intended to improve the lives of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community," White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in a statement. "Through actions aimed at making health care more affordable, rolling back burdensome regulations, and combating the opioid crisis, the administration is working to ensure a healthier America."

The new leader of HHS — Alex Azar, who was sworn in as secretary last month — is thought to be more pragmatic than his predecessor Tom Price. Azar previously led U.S. operations for Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company that has been hailed by the Human Rights Campaign, among others, for its pro-LGBT policies. Lilly opposed Indiana's religious liberty law, advanced by then-Gov. Mike Pence, that LGBT groups said was discriminatory.

However, staff inside the health department have raised concerns about several other Trump appointees now in senior roles who had a history of anti-LGBT comments before joining the agency, Among them is Roger Severino, a former Heritage Foundation official who has said that the Supreme Court's 2015 decision on same-sex marriage was "wrong" and repeatedly warned of its consequences.

"[S]ame-sex marriage was merely the start, not end, of the left’s LGBT agenda," Severino wrote in May 2016, about 10 months before he was tapped by Trump to be the health department's top civil rights official. "The radical left is using government power to coerce everyone, including children, into pledging allegiance to a radical new gender ideology over and above their right to privacy, safety, and religious freedom."

Asked in an interview this month if he stood by those comments, Severino pointed out that since joining the health department he had reached out to LGBT advocates. He also said his responsibility as civil rights chief is to uphold constitutional protections for all Americans.

"Statements I've made in the past are not binding on what I do in my role as a public servant," Severino said. "What I'm guided by, and what I'm required to follow, is the law… I'm dedicated to treating everybody fairly and in accordance with the law."

HHS officials also pointed to a listening session that Severino convened in April 2017 with more than a dozen LGBT advocates as well as several follow-up conversations with medical experts. "The outreach has been significant," an agency spokesperson said.

But nearly all of those LGBT advocates said they've essentially been ignored since sitting down with Severino nearly a year ago.

"There’s been no communication since then through all the channels that he and his staff know how to reach us," said Mara Youdelman of the National Health Law Program, who attended last year's listening session and submitted subsequent requests for information that haven't been returned. "It was a one-shot deal — and all of their actions speak much louder than words and one listening session."

The Obama administration in 2016 also finalized a regulation, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, that banned discrimination in health care based on sexual orientation and extended those protections to transgender individuals for the first time.

While some conservative groups said that the Obama administration moved too quickly on LGBT health priorities, its leaders argue their efforts were necessary, even overdue. "The purpose of the agency is to serve all Americans, not just straight people. Our job was helping everyone," said Kathy Greenlee, who was appointed as an assistant HHS secretary in 2009 and is openly lesbian. "There was pent-up support for these issues."

But upon taking office last year, the Trump administration swiftly froze a series of LGBT-friendly rules, including proposed new regulations to further ban discrimination in Medicare and Medicaid. A regulation that would have allowed transgender HHS staff more protections when using the department's bathrooms and other facilities also was ignored.

"It was signed and technically finished on Jan. 19, 2017, but not posted online," said one staffer. "And the new administration considered it unpublished and pulled it back."

The Trump administration also reinterpreted the ACA's Section 1557 anti-discrimination mandate, with the White House declining to fight a court battle to enforce it and signaling that it would roll back the rule. The health agency's new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, which POLITICO first reported last month, is expected to offer greater protections for health care workers who do not wish to treat LGBT patients.

Meanwhile, the agency's senior adviser for LGBT health — a lawyer named Elliot Kennedy — was reassigned from the HHS secretary's office to an HHS office in Rockville, Md., to work on disease prevention. Kennedy's previous portfolio, including leading a committee to review and advance LGBT policy issues across HHS, also has lost influence, after openly LGBT leaders left the agency and current LGBT staffers say they've been dissuaded from attending. The committee's annual report has not been publicly posted since 2016.

Christian conservatives hail HHS

Since Trump took office, multiple agencies have pursued policy reversals related to LGBT priorities. Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department suggested that federal law doesn't ban sex discrimination in the workplace for transgender employees, a turnaround from the Obama administration. The Department of Education this month said that it would

I'm tired of paying 3.8% in additional income tax for non-medically required tranny services. Liberals: Use your Republican Tax Cuts and fund tranny services through your retail baby killing factories at Planned Parenthood. How much are they selling baby parts for this week?

First of all, where's your proof that "tranny services" have increased your income tax by 3.8% - that number sounds doubtful.

Secondly, does that 3.8% piss you off so much that you're willing to risk being refused medical treatment because someone decides they don't want to treat you? That is what these changes are setting up to permit....

mx5guynj saidI'm tired of paying 3.8% in additional income tax for non-medically required tranny services. Liberals: Use your Republican Tax Cuts and fund tranny services through your retail baby killing factories at Planned Parenthood. How much are they selling baby parts for this week?

The nation's health department is taking steps to dismantle LGBT health initiatives, as political appointees have halted or rolled back regulations intended to protect LGBT workers and patients, removed LGBT-friendly language from documents and reassigned the senior adviser dedicated to LGBT health.

The sharp reversal from Obama-era policies carries implications for a population that's been historically vulnerable to discrimination in health care settings, say LGBT health advocates. A Health Affairs study last year found that many LGBT individuals have less access to care than heterosexuals; in a Harvard-Robert Wood Johnson-NPR survey one in six LGBT individuals reported experiencing discrimination from doctors or at a clinic

The Trump administration soon after taking office also moved to change the agency's LGBT-related health data collection, a window into health status and discrimination. Last month it established a new religious liberty division to defend health workers who have religious objections to treating LGBT patients.

The changes at the Department of Health and Human Services represent "rapid destruction of so much of the progress on LGBT health," said Kellan Baker, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who worked with HHS on LGBT issues for nearly a decade. “It’s only a matter of time before all the gains made under the Obama administration are reversed under the Trump administration, for purposes that have nothing to do with public health and have everything to do with politics.”

The policy reversals also come after President Donald Trump repeatedly pledged during his campaign that he would support LGBT causes. "Thank you to the LGBT community!" Trump tweeted in June 2016. "I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs."

The Trump administration defended its approach to LGBT health as part of its broader health care strategy.

"The policies of the Trump administration are intended to improve the lives of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community," White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in a statement. "Through actions aimed at making health care more affordable, rolling back burdensome regulations, and combating the opioid crisis, the administration is working to ensure a healthier America."

The new leader of HHS — Alex Azar, who was sworn in as secretary last month — is thought to be more pragmatic than his predecessor Tom Price. Azar previously led U.S. operations for Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company that has been hailed by the Human Rights Campaign, among others, for its pro-LGBT policies. Lilly opposed Indiana's religious liberty law, advanced by then-Gov. Mike Pence, that LGBT groups said was discriminatory.

However, staff inside the health department have raised concerns about several other Trump appointees now in senior roles who had a history of anti-LGBT comments before joining the agency, Among them is Roger Severino, a former Heritage Foundation official who has said that the Supreme Court's 2015 decision on same-sex marriage was "wrong" and repeatedly warned of its consequences.

"[S]ame-sex marriage was merely the start, not end, of the left’s LGBT agenda," Severino wrote in May 2016, about 10 months before he was tapped by Trump to be the health department's top civil rights official. "The radical left is using government power to coerce everyone, including children, into pledging allegiance to a radical new gender ideology over and above their right to privacy, safety, and religious freedom."

Asked in an interview this month if he stood by those comments, Severino pointed out that since joining the health department he had reached out to LGBT advocates. He also said his responsibility as civil rights chief is to uphold constitutional protections for all Americans.

"Statements I've made in the past are not binding on what I do in my role as a public servant," Severino said. "What I'm guided by, and what I'm required to follow, is the law… I'm dedicated to treating everybody fairly and in accordance with the law."

HHS officials also pointed to a listening session that Severino convened in April 2017 with more than a dozen LGBT advocates as well as several follow-up conversations with medical experts. "The outreach has been significant," an agency spokesperson said.

But nearly all of those LGBT advocates said they've essentially been ignored since sitting down with Severino nearly a year ago.

"There’s been no communication since then through all the channels that he and his staff know how to reach us," said Mara Youdelman of the National Health Law Program, who attended last year's listening session and submitted subsequent requests for information that haven't been returned. "It was a one-shot deal — and all of their actions speak much louder than words and one listening session."

The Obama administration in 2016 also finalized a regulation, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, that banned discrimination in health care based on sexual orientation and extended those protections to transgender individuals for the first time.

While some conservative groups said that the Obama administration moved too quickly on LGBT health priorities, its leaders argue their efforts were necessary, even overdue. "The purpose of the agency is to serve all Americans, not just straight people. Our job was helping everyone," said Kathy Greenlee, who was appointed as an assistant HHS secretary in 2009 and is openly lesbian. "There was pent-up support for these issues."

But upon taking office last year, the Trump administration swiftly froze a series of LGBT-friendly rules, including proposed new regulations to further ban discrimination in Medicare and Medicaid. A regulation that would have allowed transgender HHS staff more protections when using the department's bathrooms and other facilities also was ignored.

"It was signed and technically finished on Jan. 19, 2017, but not posted online," said one staffer. "And the new administration considered it unpublished and pulled it back."

The Trump administration also reinterpreted the ACA's Section 1557 anti-discrimination mandate, with the White House declining to fight a court battle to enforce it and signaling that it would roll back the rule. The health agency's new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, which POLITICO first reported last month, is expected to offer greater protections for health care workers who do not wish to treat LGBT patients.

Meanwhile, the agency's senior adviser for LGBT health — a lawyer named Elliot Kennedy — was reassigned from the HHS secretary's office to an HHS office in Rockville, Md., to work on disease prevention. Kennedy's previous portfolio, including leading a committee to review and advance LGBT policy issues across HHS, also has lost influence, after openly LGBT leaders left the agency and current LGBT staffers say they've been dissuaded from attending. The committee's annual report has not been publicly posted since 2016.

Christian conservatives hail HHS

Since Trump took office, multiple agencies have pursued policy reversals related to LGBT priorities. Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department suggested that federal law doesn't ban sex discrimination in the workplace for transgender employees, a turnaround from the Obama administration. The Department of Ed

Yep, and you have people or bots running around here claiming to be gay that endlessly defend Trump and Pence. Its honestly one of the most pathetic things that I've ever seen; like watching an abused woman defend her dangerous boyfriend.

Doctor9 saidFirst of all, where's your proof that "tranny services" have increased your income tax by 3.8% - that number sounds doubtful.

Secondly, does that 3.8% piss you off so much that you're willing to risk being refused medical treatment because someone decides they don't want to treat you? That is what these changes are setting up to permit....

mx5guynj saidI'm tired of paying 3.8% in additional income tax for non-medically required tranny services. Liberals: Use your Republican Tax Cuts and fund tranny services through your retail baby killing factories at Planned Parenthood. How much are they selling baby parts for this week?

First of all, read the ACA. Second, I wasn't denied treatment before Obama's affirmative action for gays.

Duh, if someone is forced against their will to treat me, how is the quality of the treatment going to be good?

Liberals: use some other shill for your progressive social engineering experiments.